Yesterday, I mentioned some wonderful online learning opportunities which address disabilities inclusion. At the end of the blogpost, I referred to the Kol B'Ramah Podcast. While it is fun and worthwhile listening to interviews of Amy Skopp Cooper, Ariella Moss Peterseil and Aryeh Kaleder as part of the My Ramah Story, 5 minutes of Torah by Noam Kornsgold, and various episodes of “Pod Across Ramah” (rainy days, birthdays, trips, first days, Shabbat), I have to admit I am a drop partial to the Tikvah Impact Stories. Yes, it is my first attempt at podcasting, but that is no reason to listen. The stories of people who have been connected to Tikvah over the years is the reason to listen.
The Tikvah Program was founded in 1970 and has been including people with disabilities at Ramah camps since then. You will hear from people who were participants and staff in Tikvah—from various eras.
Yishai Barth is very articulate and brilliant. He speaks very openly about his disabilities. He is also a recent graduate of The Commonwealth Honors College at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Even hearing about his major is hard to understand! He constructed his own major in social philosophy and communication theory which drew on courses in many different fields, including communications, philosophy, disability studies, sociology, education/educational philosophy, psychology, and linguistics/psycholinguistics. Are you surprised he is also wrapping up a master’s degree and likely to continue his PhD—in England! He reports that his studies will “relate to or at the intersection of social philosophy, cultural studies, and political economy.” And Yishai is already far along on a book entitled, “The Theory of Everyone.”
Yishai learned a lot at Ramah New England and on Ramah Israel Seminar—he also taught his bunkmates and the entire community A LOT!
Read more about Yishai here—he has an awesome website, the theoryofeveryone.net
Check out all of the podcast episodes here:
To go directly to the interview with Yishai, click here:
